Virginia Tech. Shooter Not a College Student

Police have yet to find what drove one man to shoot and kill a Virginia Tech. police officer on Thursday and then turn the gun on himself.

Police said they found the suspected gunman dead in a nearby parking lot. “We found him laying on the ground and he had suffered what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound and the handgun was found nearby,” said Corinne Geller, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police.

They will not release the identity of the shooter until family members have been notified of his death. However, they did say that he is not a student at Virginia Tech. “At this point, we haven’t been able to establish any kind of immediate connection between the officer and the shooter,” said Geller. “That’s obviously something that’s being looked into.”

Officer Deriek W. Crouse was shot after pulling over a driver in a routine traffic stop. The gunman, who was not involved in the traffic stop, walked up and shot Crouse. He then fled the scene on foot and shot himself.

Crouse joined the police force six months after the brutal shooting at Virginia Tech. in 2007. He was an Army veteran, married father of five and a proud policeman. Friends said he was a jokester who loved to ride his motorcycle and listen to rock music.

“He was a standup guy,” said Rusty Zarger, a former neighbor. “He was very mild-mannered, very confident. You could tell he was strong in believing in himself, but very comfortable.”

Hearts are stricken with grief on Virginia Tech’s campus.

“In light of the turmoil and trauma and the tragedy suffered by this campus by guns, I can only say words don’t describe our feelings and they’re elusive at this point in time,” said university president Charles Steger. “Our hearts are broken again for the family of our police officer.”